typical or distinctive; heard my friend's characteristic laugh; red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn; stripes characteristic of the zebra'

a prominent attribute or aspect of something; the map showed roads and other features; generosity is one of his best characteristics

[ Syn: feature ]

a distinguishing quality

the integer part (positive or negative) of the representation of a logarithm; in the expression log 643 = 2.808 the characteristic is 2

any measurable property of a device measured under closely specified conditions

[ Syn: device characteristic ]